Chapter 190: Winning and Protection

"What on earth..." Qiao Jia Jin's lips trembled slightly, "You guys are really insane..."

Xiao Xiao chuckled a few times and said,"Scoundrel, we can die anytime we want, but what about you?"

Qiao Jia Jin didn't answer. Instead, he turned his head to look at Zhang Shan, "Big guy... That rock looks like it's only three or four hundred pounds at most. Did it knock you out?"

Zhang Shan was pinned under the rock, completely motionless.

"Damn... You aren't dead, are you...?" Qiao Jia Jin gave a bitter smile and flexed his hands and feet again, "This is going to be hard to explain."

No sooner had he spoken than a fist flew toward Qiao Jia Jin's face.

Qiao Jia Jin's head jerked to one side, and he coughed a few times afterward.

"Scoundrel, haven't you always wanted me to admit defeat?" Xiao Xiao sneered, "Well, I'll say the same to you. If you admit defeat now, I'll give you a way out."

"A way out?" Qiao Jia Jin smirked and turned back, "Do you think that's what I want?"

"Oh? So you're not afraid of death either?"

"What's there to fear about death..." Qiao Jia Jin shook his head, "What I fear is 'losing'."

Xiao Xiao's face turned cold, and she slapped Qiao Jia Jin across the face with the back of her hand.

"Stop playing games." She grabbed Qiao Jia Jin's shoulders, trying to push him off the bridge, but found the rocks on him incredibly heavy, rooted in place like tree trunks.

"With rocks this heavy on you, haven't your hands and feet broken?" Xiao Xiao asked with a laugh.

"Thanks to you, my hands and feet are still sturdy," Qiao Jia Jin replied, "What about you? Is your right leg still hurting?"

"You..."

Xiao Xiao touched her broken right leg, clearly provoked by Qiao Jia Jin. She swung her fist and slammed it hard into his arm.

Since Qiao Jia Jin's arm was buried in the rock, the blow added a pulling sensation on top of the pain.

He felt like he was about to lose that arm.

"Still talking tough!" Xiao Xiao snapped coldly, "Today, I'll break all your limbs and see how tough you are!"

Qiao Jia Jin responded with a helpless laugh and turned to look at Zhang Shan, "Big guy... What do you think we should do?"

Zhang Shan, lying on the ground, finally slowly opened his eyes. He felt like all his internal organs were in agony.

"Cough..." Zhang Shan spat out a mouthful of fresh blood onto the ground.

"Oh... Good morning..." Qiao Jia Jin said with a smile.

"Am... I dead?" Zhang Shan coughed a few times and whispered.

"Probably dead," Qiao Jia Jin nodded, "You're like a ghost now."

Zhang Shan struggled to turn his head and surveyed the bridge.

Li Xiang Ling was no longer there, and Qiao Jia Jin looked like he couldn't hold on much longer.

"Are we... going to lose?" Zhang Shan asked in disbelief.

Xiao Xiao overheard and limped over, then kicked Zhang Shan in the head.

"As if you're going to win?!" she shouted coldly, "After this battle, Qi Xia will belong to us 'Ji Dao'."

She tried to push Zhang Shan off as well, but the rocks on him were even heavier than those on Qiao Jia Jin, and she couldn't budge him at all.

Qiao Jia Jin slowly lifted his head, "Big woman, what... nonsense are you spouting? You only said you wanted to take him, but you never mentioned turning him into one of you lunatics..."

"If he doesn't agree, we'll just kill him every time we see him until he does."

Qiao Jia Jin's face turned icy, and a buzzing filled his ears.

"Last time, because I wasn't there, I couldn't protect Jiu Zai... He followed the wrong people and trusted the wrong ones... So even in death, no one collected his body..." Qiao Jia Jin slowly raised his head, as if he'd made a decision, "But this time, I'm here... I absolutely won't let the same thing happen..."

Zhang Shan, after coughing several times, managed a bitter smile, "Looks like... we're really going to lose..."

Both men's eyes changed.

"Qiao, do you want to go all out with me...?" Zhang Shan asked.

Clang!!

A massive bell toll reverberated from afar, the sound overwhelmingly loud, as if it were right in front of them.

Qiao Jia Jin pondered the bell for a moment, then dropped his facade, his face as still as a stagnant pond, "Go all out...? I've been dying for that."

Clang!!

Another enormous bell toll echoed through the sky, even louder than the first.

...

Chu Tian Qiu and Xu Liu Nian were heading toward the square's notice board.

"Tian Qiu, showing up like this is really too dangerous," Xu Liu Nian said with a worried expression.

"It's fine," Chu Tian Qiu shook his head, "Thanks to you, even if 'Ji Dao' spots me now, they'll think I'm a fake."

Xu Liu Nian lowered her head in silence for a moment and asked, "But are they really okay? That man named Zhang Shan..."

"Xiao Nian, you just got back, so you don't know much about Zhang Shan," Chu Tian Qiu gave a meaningful smile.

"I know he's a 'Hui Xiang Zhe', but so what?" Xu Liu Nian asked worriedly, "The other side has three 'Hui Xiang Zhe' too... One against three, he can't possibly come out on top."

"I discovered Zhang Shan by chance about a year and a half ago," Chu Tian Qiu said, "His ability is incredibly powerful... It only lasts for a short time, but it's enough for him to win every battle. I believe even among 'Hui Xiang Zhe', there are levels."

"'Hui Xiang Zhe' levels...?" Xu Liu Nian didn't quite understand, "Our abilities all have drawbacks to some degree, so how do you distinguish levels?"

Chu Tian Qiu was silent for a moment before saying, "Xiao Nian, I'll take you to a place. Once you see Zhang Shan's 'Hui Xiang' with your own eyes, you'll notice how different he is."

"Are you saying...?" Xu Liu Nian thought for a second, "Zhang Shan's 'Hui Xiang' is different from others just by its name?"

"Exactly."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the square, where a massive screen and a bronze bell hung above it.

Chu Tian Qiu found an old bench and sat down, gesturing to Xu Liu Nian.

"Come sit."

Xu Liu Nian sat down with a puzzled expression, feeling a bit uneasy.

She was willing to give her life for Chu Tian Qiu, but she always felt like she could never get into his heart.

What was this smiling man thinking about every day?

Chu Tian Qiu gazed wistfully at the sky, then pulled an old, yellowed piece of paper from his pocket.

It looked like it had been torn from a notebook and was quite worn.

Scrawled on it was a single line: "I absolutely cannot let Qi Xia gain 'Hui Xiang'."

He then took another piece of paper from his left pocket. The handwriting was the same, but the content was different.

"I must let Qi Xia gain 'Hui Xiang'."

Chu Tian Qiu knew both notes were written by him, but he couldn't tell which one was lying.

Since they were completely opposite, one had to be a lie.

Was he... lying to himself?

Chu Tian Qiu glanced up and noticed the bronze bell nearby starting to sway.

"Cover your ears, Xiao Nian."

He put away the papers and covered his own ears. Xu Liu Nian followed suit.

Clang!!!!

The enormous bell toll rang out right in front of them, the sound waves swirling around the square and soaring into the sky.

It was so loud it could shake a person's soul loose.

Xu Liu Nian and Chu Tian Qiu couldn't even open their eyes; they just waited for the sound to fade.

After a moment, they looked up at the display screen.

A line of glowing text appeared:

"I have heard the echo of 'Tian Xing Jian'!"

"'Tian Xing Jian'..." Xu Liu Nian stared at the screen in shock. It was her first time seeing a 'Hui Xiang' name with three characters, and hearing such an intense bell toll.

"What exactly is his ability...?" she asked.

"He's..." Chu Tian Qiu began to answer, but then he saw the massive bronze bell swinging even more wildly. "What...?!"

"Quick! Cover your ears!" he shouted.